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Britain Admits Sinn Fein Contacts

July 15, 1997|By From Tribune News Services.

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND — Northern Irish peace talks were to resume Tuesday under a cloud after a dispute over Britain's acknowledgement that it had been in contact with the IRA's political wing, Sinn Fein.

Britain and Ireland broke off contacts with Sinn Fein after the IRA shot to death two police officers in an ambush a month ago.

The new preliminary contacts were designed to encourage Sinn Fein to persuade its IRA allies to call a new cease-fire--the price for Sinn Fein's entry into the peace talks proper.

Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam said Monday her civil servants had been in touch with Sinn Fein by telephone and in writing.

The admission, after the news appeared in the Irish Times, infuriated Protestant unionists loyal to British rule who said they had been misled by denials.